It was the day after Thanksgiving. The Fisher "kids," all in their 30's, took a walk around their property in the Hudson Valley. As they came through the dense woods, they saw a tent-like structure with its flaps down. Henry, the youngest, opened the flap and the bashed in head of a young man fell from the structure. They ran back to the Gray House with the news and their aging father was informed. When the police were notified, the body was identified-it was a distant cousin from the Gallagher Place, sold to the Fishers after the Gallagher brothers all met untimely ends. When the police interviewed daughter Marlowe, they brought up the other odd occurrence of fifteen years ago-the unexplained disappearance of her childhood friend, Norah Miller.
Nora Miller lived locally while Marlowe and her brothers had a townhouse in New York. While they lived different lives, Marlowe and Norah spent summers together in the woods of the Hudson Valley and were inseparable. This went on till they were teens, as Norah blended well with the Fishers, and was always almost living with Marlowe and her brothers. But one night this changed-Norah went outside to take out the trash and never came back. No sound was heard that night and when the police dogs tried to find her they couldn't get a scent. This destroyed Marlowe and she was never really able to come to grips with her loss. Years later, when the man was found murdered in the woods behind the Gray House, the police inferred that Gallagher's murder and Norah's disappearance were connected. Was there a link? And would solving the Gallagher murder lead them to the truth of what happened so many years ago?
This beautifully written tale of small towns, family secrets, and wild landscapes is a gem of a novel. I guarantee that the ending will haunt you long after the last page is turned.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
December 2, 2025
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